Handle units of literal constants by means of rules for the empty unit

RationaleMCP/0027/ReadMe.md

@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# Modelica Change Proposal MCP-0027<br/>Units of Literal Constants
+Francesco Casella, Henrik Tidefelt
+
+**(In Development)**
+
+## Summary
+The purpose of this MCP is to allow more unit errors to be detected by giving more expressions the unit `"1"` instead of having an undefined unit.
+The problem with undefined unit is that it gets in the way of carrying out checking of units (which tools tend to deal with by not checking units at all where this happens).
+
+## Revisions
+| Date | Description |
+| --- | --- |
+| 2022-10-04 | Henrik Tidefelt. Filling this document with initial content. |
+
+## Contributor License Agreement
+All authors of this MCP or their organizations have signed the "Modelica Contributor License Agreement".
+
+## Rationale
+FIXME
+
+## Backwards Compatibility
+As current Modelica doesn't clearly reject some models with non-sensical combination of units, this MCP will break backwards compatibility by turning at least some of these invalid.
+
+## Tool Implementation
+None, so far.
+
+### Experience with Prototype
+N/A
+
+## Required Patents
+To the best of our knowledge, there are no patents that would conflict with the incorporation of this MCP.
+
+## References
+(None.)

chapters/unitexpressions.tex

@@ -89,3 +89,265 @@ \section{The Syntax of Unit Expressions}\label{the-syntax-of-unit-expressions}
 
 The unit expression \lstinline!"T"! means tesla, but note that the letter \lstinline!T! is also the symbol for the prefix tera which has a multiplier value of 10\textsuperscript{12}.
 \end{example}
+
+
+\section{Unit Checking}\label{unit-checking}
+
+How to verify that units are used in compatible ways is current not fully determined by the specification.
+This section gives rules for certain situations, but in general tools are expected to reason according to standard dimensional analysis.
+
+
+\subsection{Standard Dimensional Analysis}\label{standard-dimensional-analysis}
+
+This section gives an incomplete characterization of ``standard dimensional analysis'', also referred to as just \firstuse{dimensional analysis}.
+What is described below applies to unit checking in Modelica -- \emph{dimensional analysis} could have additional meanings in other contexts.
+While Modelica has a concept of \willintroduce{empty units} (described in later sections), standard dimensional analysis only deals with non-empty units such as \lstinline!"m"!, \lstinline!"m/s"!, or \lstinline!"1"!.
+It consists of two parts:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item
+  Unit compatibility requirements.
+\item
+  Rules for deriving the unit of an expression.
+\end{itemize}
+
+Unit compatibility requirements that must be met in Modelica:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item
+  Dimensional homogeneity: The two sides of an equation or assignment statement must have the same unit.
+\item
+  The expression of a binding equation must have the same unit as the component to which it belongs (special case of dimensional homogeneity).
+\item
+  The two operands of the additive operators \lstinline!+! and \lstinline!-! must have the same unit.
+\item
+  The two connectors in a \lstinline!connect!-equation must agree on all units inside the connectors (follows from dimensional homogeneity and additive operator rule).
+\item
+  In a function call, the unit of an argument expression must match the unit of the corresponding function input component.
+\item
+  Other situations where unit compatibility might seem natural are currently not covered by the specification, but could become additional unit compatibility requirements in the future.
+\end{itemize}
+The requirements above apply to non-empty as well as empty units, but both \willintroduce{unit propagation} and \willintroduce{unit inference} (described below) need to be considered when verifying the requirements.
+
+% TODO: Replace these examples by giving unit semantics where operators and built-in functions are defined in the specification,
+% and just include some links to places where such semantics are given.
+Unit derivation in Modelica:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item
+  The result of additive operators has the same unit as the operands.
+\item
+  The result of multiplication has a unit obtained by multiplying the operands' units.
+\item
+  Built-in operators such as \lstinline!pre! and \lstinline!previous! preserve units, while \lstinline!der! changes the unit by dividing it by \lstinline!"s"!.
+\item
+  Other expressions are not yet covered by the specification.
+\end{itemize}
+
+
+\subsection{Empty and Undefined Units}\label{empty-and-undefined-units}
+
+In situations where the specification does not prescribe how to determine the unit of an expression, the unit of that expression is said to be \firstuse[undefined unit]{undefined}.
+It is then not possible for a tool to reject or approve the equation (or other construct) with support in the specification, and options for the tool include silently not performing unit checking, or applying checks based on dimensional analysis.
+
+The unit of an expression can also be defined as being \firstuse[empty unit]{empty}, see below.
+In certain places (see below), expressions with empty unit can be implicitly cast to suitable units.
+When an expression with empty unit is implicitly cast to some unit, that unit is referred to as the \firstuse{inferred unit} of the expression.
+
+
+\subsection{Unit Propagation}\label{unit-propagation}
+
+The main work of unit checking is performed on the flattened model, with the exception that \lstinline!connect!-equations need to be considered for \firstuse{unit propagation}.
+
+Unit propagation is the act of replacing the empty unit of an instantiated component by some other unit in order to fulfill some of the most obvious unit compatibility requirements.
+It is the first step of the unit checking procedure, being independent of both unit derivation and unit inference.
+Unit propagation takes place in the following situations:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item
+  Simple binding equations (\cref{equation-categories}):
+  When a component is declared with empty \lstinline!unit!-attribute and has a binding equation with just a component reference on the right-hand side, the unit of the right-hand side replaces the empty unit.
+\item
+  \lstinline!connect!-equations:
+  Units can be propagated in both directions of a \lstinline!connect!-equation.
+\end{itemize}
+
+Notation: The \emph{\lstinline!unit!-attribute of a component} refers to the attribute as given in the model.
+The \emph{unit of a component} refers to the component's unit after unit propagation has been carried out.
+
+\begin{nonnormative}
+The reason to not propagate units of non-simple binding equations is to avoid bootstrapping problems where unit propagation depends on unit derivation, and unit derivation depends on unit propagation.
+If the restrictions on unit propagation would be relaxed in the future, this would be a backwards compatible change as it only means that there would be less need to write out units explicitly.
+\end{nonnormative}
+
+\begin{nonnormative}
+For unit propagation in \lstinline!connect!-equations, it is recommended to perform the propagation on the connection sets to avoid diagnostics involving two connectors where neither is declared with a non-empty unit.
+By considering a connection set, a diagnostic message can omit all the connectors where the unit is empty, and only report examples of connectors in the set with mismatched non-empty units.
+\end{nonnormative}
+
+\begin{example}
+The following illustrates unit propagation and its limitations:
+\begin{lstlisting}[language=modelica]
+Real x(unit = "m") = 1.0; // OK: No unit propagation.
+Real y = x;               // OK: Unit propagation assigns y the unit "m".
+Real z = y;               // OK: Unit propagation assigns z the unit "m".
+Real w = 2 * z;           // Error: No unit propagation as 2 * z isn't simple.
+\end{lstlisting}
+(The rules making the binding equation for \lstinline!x! OK will be given in the sections below.)
+\end{example}
+
+
+\subsection{Bottom-Up Unit Derivation}\label{bottom-up-unit-derivation}
+
+After completed unit propagation, the unit of every expression shall be determined in order to be able to verify unit compatibility requirements.
+The derivation is a bottom-up analysis of the expression tree, involving expression-specific rules and a simple form of unit inference.
+Separate rules assign units to all expression tree leaves (such as variables and literals).
+For a general non-leaf expression $\mathit{op}(e_{1},\, e_{2},\, \ldots, e_{n})$ where $\mathit{op}$ symolizes the kind of expression and the $e_{i}$ represent the immediate children in the expression tree, unit derivation follows these steps:
+\begin{enumerate}
+\item
+  Derive the unit of each subexpression $e_{i}$.
+  The so obtained unit of the expression might be empty as well as non-empty.
+\item
+  If there is a unit derivation rule for $\mathit{op}$ matching the units of the $e_{i}$, apply that rule.
+  Note that some expressions can handle subexpressions with empty unit, often assigning the empty unit to the entire $\mathit{op}$-expression as well.
+\item
+  Otherwise:
+  \begin{enumerate}
+  \def\labelenumii{\alph{enumii}.}
+  \item
+    Infer a non-empty unit for each $e_{i}$ that has empty unit, and let $e'_{i}$ denote the subexpressions after unit inference.
+    How the unit is inferred depends on the kind of expression, and is described in \cref{unit-inference}.
+  \item
+    If there is a unit derivation rule for $\mathit{op}(e'_{1},\, e'_{2},\, \ldots, e'_{n})$, apply that rule.
+  \item
+    Otherwise, the $\mathit{op}$-expression has a unit error.
+  \end{enumerate}
+\end{enumerate}
+
+
+\subsection{Unit Inference}\label{unit-inference}
+
+In Modelica unit checking, \firstuse{unit inference} refers to the implicit casting of an expression with empty unit to a corresponding expression with non-empty unit.
+An expression can only get an inferred unit when appearing in a context where the empty unit is not allowed.
+
+When encountering the empty unit in the following situations, the inferred unit is (uniquely) determined by ensuring that unit compatibility requirements are fulfilled:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item
+  In binding equations and modifications:
+  \begin{itemize}
+  \item The entire expression of the binding or modification.
+  \item When the entire expression is an array construction, array concatenation and array range, then apply rules recursively for the direct subexpressions.
+  \end{itemize}
+\item
+  The entire argument expression in a function call.
+% To keep the design close to the bare minimum, this part is currently excluded:
+%\item
+%  For a translation-time constant with value 0.0:
+%  \begin{itemize}
+%  \item Expressions constituting the entire side of an equality or relation.
+%  \item The right hand side of an assignment.
+%  \item The direct subexpressions of array construction, array concatenation, and array range.
+%  \end{itemize}
+\end{itemize}
+
+Otherwise, the inferred unit is \lstinline!"1"!.
+
+
+\subsection{Expressions with Empty Unit}\label{expressions-with-empty-unit}
+
+This section describes conditions under which an expression has empty unit.
+Conditions not given here must not be interpreted as definitely not implying empty unit; instead, the unit may be currently undefined for some expressions, allowing the unit to be properly defined in future versions of the specification.
+
+Basic expressions defined to have empty unit:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item
+  \lstinline!Real! literals.
+\item
+  \lstinline!Integer! expressions implicitly cast to \lstinline!Real!.
+\end{itemize}
+
+Expressions defined to \emph{not} propagate the empty unit, thereby forcing inference of unit \lstinline!"1"!:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item
+  Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division operators when either operand has non-empty unit.
+\item
+  Right operand of binary exponentiation.
+\item
+  Component references outside of functions, where the component's unit (after unit propagation has been carried out) is empty (possibly by not being specified).
+  (Unit checking involving user-defined functions with empty unit on inputs and outputs is currently not defined.)
+\end{itemize}
+
+Built-in non-array operators, functions, and special expressions that propagate any unit (including empty):
+\begin{itemize}
+\item
+  When all operands have the same unit: negation, addition, and subtraction (scalar or element-wise).
+\end{itemize}
+
+Special situations in which the empty unit is propagated up the expression tree:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item
+  Multiplication and division when both operands have empty unit.
+\end{itemize}
+
+\begin{example}
+Consider unit checking of the following binding equation:
+\begin{lstlisting}[language=modelica]
+Real y(unit = "m") = 1 + 2.5 * 3;
+\end{lstlisting}
+The unit of the binding equation right-hand side is determined as follows:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item The \lstinline!Real! literal \lstinline!2.5! has empty unit.
+\item The \lstinline!Integer! literals \lstinline!1! and \lstinline!3! are implicitly cast to \lstinline!Real!, and therefore have empty unit.
+\item The multiplication \lstinline!2.5 * 3! has empty unit, as multiplication can propagate the empty unit of both operands.
+\item The addition \lstinline!1 + (2.5 * 3)! has empty unit, as addition can propagate any unit as long as both operands have the same unit.
+\item The entire right-hand side expression gets inferred unit \lstinline!"m"! in order to be compatible with the component's declared \lstinline!unit!-attribute.
+\end{itemize}
+\end{example}
+
+\begin{example}
+Consider unit checking of the following erroneous binding equation for \lstinline!y!:
+\begin{lstlisting}[language=modelica]
+Real x(unit = "m") = 1.0;
+Real y(unit = "m") = x^2 / 2;
+\end{lstlisting}
+The unit of the binding equation right-hand side is determined as follows:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item The unit of \lstinline!x! is \lstinline!"m"!, and dimensional analysis gives that \lstinline!x^2! has unit \lstinline!"m2"!
+\item The \lstinline!Real! literal \lstinline!1.0! has empty unit, and gets inferred unit \lstinline!"m"!.
+\item As the left operand of \lstinline!x^2 / 2! is non-empty, the right operand cannot be empty, and hence empty unit of \lstinline!2! is implicitly cast to \lstinline!"1"!.
+\item Dimensional analysis then gives that the unit of \lstinline!x^2 / 2! is \lstinline!"m2"!, which is an error due to the required unit being \lstinline!"m"!.
+\end{itemize}
+\end{example}
+
+\begin{example}
+Difference between using a literal and a constant:
+\begin{lstlisting}[language=modelica]
+function f
+  input Real u(unit = "m");
+  output Real y(unit = "m") = u;
+end f;
+constant Real pi = 3.14;
+Real x(unit = "m") = f(3.14); // OK.
+Real y(unit = "m") = f(pi);   // Error.
+\end{lstlisting}
+The first call to \lstinline!f! is OK due to unit inference making \lstinline!"m"! the inferred unit of \lstinline!3.14!.
+The second call to \lstinline!f! is an error because the component reference \lstinline!pi! has an inferred unit of \lstinline!"1"! by itself, which prevents inference of the unit required by the function call.
+\end{example}
+
+\begin{example}
+Consider the potential consequences of an undefined unit in the following binding equation:
+\begin{lstlisting}[language=modelica]
+Real y(unit = "m") = sin(1.57);
+\end{lstlisting}
+To see that the unit of the binding equation right-hand side is undefined, note that:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item The \lstinline!Real! literal \lstinline!1.57! has empty unit.
+\item The expression \lstinline!sin(1.57)! is not covered by the specification, and hence has undefined unit.
+\end{itemize}
+If a tool wants to proceed according to ``standard dimensional analysis'', alternatives include:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item
+  Assume that \lstinline!sin! is a mapping from unit \lstinline!"1"! to unit \lstinline!"1"!.
+  The unit of \lstinline!1.57! then defaults to \lstinline!"1"! (alternatively, the same unit could be obtained by inference).
+  The unit of \lstinline!sin(1.57)! is then found to be \lstinline!"1"!, which is an error due to the required unit being \lstinline!"m"!.
+\item
+  Assume that \lstinline!sin! preserves both the unit \lstinline!"1"! and the empty unit.
+  The empty unit of \lstinline!1.57! gets propagated to \lstinline!sin(1.57)!, which in turn gets inferred unit \lstinline!"m"!.
+\end{itemize}
+\end{example}